Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post - You shouldn't put more than x% of your paycheck into..

ngdawg · 01-08-2007, 07:02 AM

When I worked at a bank, it was a general rule that mortgages should not be over 28% of reported income.
If you've got a few credit cards, consolidate them now into one(store cards are the devil); leave major credit card available balances alone-the debt to available ratio looks better if the amount owed is a small percentage of what's available,ie; you have a $10k credit card but only owe $1000.
Get a credit report, look it over and make sure there's no old loans or credit cards still hanging on and that there's no late payments reported, things like that. The higher your credit rating, the better the mortgage deal you'll receive.
Go over all monthly expenses and see what you could comfortably afford to lay out each month for mortgage. Keep in mind you will also have to figure into that amount your property taxes and home owner's insurance. A general good estimation is to allow 1-2% of whatever you decide to finance as your mortgage-most times banks or lending institutions will triple your annual salary to come up with an approximate amount of what you conceivably can afford.
So, if your salary is $70k a year, you can 'afford' a mortgage of 210,000, or about $2100 a month.

01-08-2007, 07:02 AM	#4 (permalink)
ngdawg peekaboo Location: on the back, bitch	When I worked at a bank, it was a general rule that mortgages should not be over 28% of reported income. If you've got a few credit cards, consolidate them now into one(store cards are the devil); leave major credit card available balances alone-the debt to available ratio looks better if the amount owed is a small percentage of what's available,ie; you have a $10k credit card but only owe $1000. Get a credit report, look it over and make sure there's no old loans or credit cards still hanging on and that there's no late payments reported, things like that. The higher your credit rating, the better the mortgage deal you'll receive. Go over all monthly expenses and see what you could comfortably afford to lay out each month for mortgage. Keep in mind you will also have to figure into that amount your property taxes and home owner's insurance. A general good estimation is to allow 1-2% of whatever you decide to finance as your mortgage-most times banks or lending institutions will triple your annual salary to come up with an approximate amount of what you conceivably can afford. So, if your salary is $70k a year, you can 'afford' a mortgage of 210,000, or about $2100 a month. __________________ Don't blame me. I didn't vote for either of'em.